We partnered with Skillshare to bring you a free online class to help you create your own podcast. In just over an hour, our very own John Lagomarsino walks you through the entire process of creating a podcast, from initial concepting and recording to distribution and launch. You can watch it free today: https://skl.sh/anchor

1. Why start a podcast?

You have a story to tell, and audio is an intimate, relatable way to tell it.

Listeners feel connected to the podcasts they listen to, and to the people on them.

It’s really fun - and so rewarding to hear that people love listening to your podcast.

Nearly 70 million Americans listen to podcasts every month, and that number is going up.

You’ve probably noticed that making podcasts is becoming more popular, too. It used to be that you needed an expensive microphone, deep technical knowledge, and lots of time. Now that everyone’s got a great microphone in their pocket, it’s possible for anyone to create compelling audio from anywhere.

2. Getting started

There’s one question to ask when you start a podcast: what’s your show about? You don’t necessarily need to be an expert on the subject you choose. But it should be something you’re genuinely interested in, and something you like talking about.

The first episode of our own podcast, “I Should Start a Podcast”, is all about finding a topic for your show:

Think about how you’ll format your show. Will it be co-hosted? Will you interview guests? Maybe you’ll gather sound from around your neighborhood, or take questions from listeners. Finding the right format for your show is finding the best way to tell your story. Keep in mind that you’re not committing to the same format forever, but settling on one to start with can take away a lot of the guesswork and let you focus on getting your podcast going. You can find some more format tips here.

Ready to start your podcast?

3. Recording your first episode

Your podcast is automatically available for people to hear on Anchor as soon as you add some audio. But you’ll probably want to also make it available on other podcast platforms, like Apple Podcasts (aka iTunes), Google Play Music, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, and more.

With Anchor, all you need to do is select the button that says “Distribute my podcast everywhere.” We’ll automatically submit your podcast to Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Overcast, and Pocket Casts. That’s it! We’ll notify you as it becomes available in each of these places; this process usually takes between 24-48 hours.

The best way to get your footing is to just start recording, listen to what you’ve made, and iterate from there. Anchor removes all the technical complications, so the only hurdle will be just figuring out what you want to say!

Download the free Anchor mobile app for iOS or Android and create an account.

Tap any tool to add some audio to your episode.

Add a caption and publish the segment to your podcast.

Keep adding segments to finish your episode. When you’re done, just give it a name and share it with the world!

If you already have audio that you’d like to turn into your first episode, you can do that too – just log in and upload your file(s) at anchor.fm.

4. Talking to other people on your podcast

Conversations can make your podcast come alive, and give your listener the chance to sit in on an amazing discussion. Anchor makes it easy for those conversations to happen, whether you know your cohost, or you want to meet someone new.

You can use our Record with Friends feature to connect up to 10 people who can record together, from anywhere in the world, on their phones. (Yup, it’s free.)

And if you want to find someone new to talk to, just tap a topic in Anchor Cohosts, and we’ll pair you up with someone else who’s ready to talk about the same thing. When the recording’s done, each of you can add the conversation to your own podcasts.

Need some tips for having a great conversation on your podcast? There’s an episode for that!

Ready to start your podcast?

5. Distributing your podcast

With Anchor, if you choose to distribute your podcast everywhere, we’ll automatically submit your podcast to other podcast platforms, like Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Spotify, and more. That’s it! We’ll notify you as it becomes available on each platform; this process usually takes between 24-48 hours.

We’re adding support for more podcast platforms all the time. For now, if you’d like to make your podcast available on additional platforms that we don’t automatically distribute to, you can easily submit your podcast anywhere you want using the RSS feed you can find in your settings.

You’ll only need to distribute your podcast once. After it’s set up, you’ll be able to sync your future episodes to all platforms with just one tap.

6. Sharing your podcast and growing your audience

As soon as you’ve set up your new podcast, you’ll want to start telling people about it. Start with friends and family, get feedback, and then tell the world about your show!

Share your Anchor profile

Anyone with an Anchor podcast gets a custom Anchor URL (e.g., anchor.fm/startapodcast). When you share this link with people, they’ll be taken right to your podcast – either in the Anchor mobile app if they have it installed, or your Anchor web profile if they don’t.

Your Anchor profile includes links to all the platforms where your podcast is available, so you don’t have to worry about which link to share with people. They can listen on Anchor, or in whatever podcast app they prefer!

Embed your podcast on your blog or website

If you already have your own blog or website, you can easily embed your podcast there so people can listen without having to leave your site. Grab the embed code from your Anchor web profile or from your dashboard on the web.

Make a transcribed video

A great way to promote your most recent episode (or even an upcoming one) is by sharing a transcribed video to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc. This way, even if people don’t have their sound on, they can still get a sense for what’s in your episode and convert to listeners.

Anchor automatically transcribes all short audio (anything under 3 minutes), so if you want to make a video, all you need to do is choose your colors, review the transcription, and share. You can export a video in square, portrait, or landscape formats, so it’ll look great on any platform!

Ready to start your podcast?

7. What's next? How to keep people listening

The best way to keep your audience engaged is to make new episodes consistently, and to interact with the people listening. Here’s how Anchor can help.

Keep it casual

Not every episode has to be long or meticulously polished. Try making casual daily content to keep your audience interested in between longer episodes. (You can even keep that extra audio exclusive to Anchor if you want.)

Let your listeners be a part of the show

One way to turn your listeners into superfans is to give them ways to be involved with your podcast:

📞 Take voice messages from listeners. Easily preview your messages and add your favorites to your next podcast episode. It’s a great way to easily get more audio for your podcast, and get your listeners directly involved with your show!

👋 Choose a lucky listener to record a segment with you. You can invite anyone who follows you on Anchor to join your recordings.

That’s it!

We can’t wait for you to get started with your own podcast. Good luck and have fun!